ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I describe the research in literacy and language use of students in Brunei Darussalam, a country situated in South East Asia and provide new perspectives on cultural literacy. Literacy is viewed as a sociocultural practice in Brunei that is closely linked to the cultural norms, traditions and practices of its people, which I define as cultural literacy. In this paper, I describe some initiatives conducted by the Brunei Ministry of Education (MOE) to raise standards of literacy through its revised education system, known as the Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad Ke-21 or SPN21 (The National Education System for the 21st century). In this chapter, I describe that Brunei children’s learning and literacy experiences must be aligned to the state philosophy, Malay Islam Monarchy (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB). From my research in schools, girls tend to be more literate and have more preferences towards reading and writing than boys, and this preference is observable as early as primary education. The limitations of this chapter are acknowledged due to limited research conducted in this area. Further detailed research and nationwide studies could be pursued to produce more detailed information on the literacy skills of the Bruneian society.
